Design Dilemmas

This past month I have been busy designing and sewing the quilt for our Quilters’ Quest shop hop this year. Each of the 10 shops is creating a quilt using the swatches that questers will collect along the way. There are 60 ten-inch squares in all and they are based on our color scheme of sunset colors.

My first challenge was in working with all of those bright colors without any dark or neutral tones to calm them down. I decided I would add some neutrals and darks along the way, and would also work to shade the colors together.

I came up with a design fairly fast and have been sewing for several weeks now. I felt like I have already pieced this quilt three times. I keep changing my mind. I did add some darker pieces in one of the shading groups, but then I decided it was too dark.

I first tried shading the sections with rectangles. I felt there was too much dark.

So I took them apart and removed some of the dark I had added and liked it better.

The old section is on the left in this photo and the new one on the right.

The next challenge was in trying to decide what border print to use. I auditioned six different ones and in order to see how they looked, I had to sew them into the triangles.

My choices came down to two different borders.

Rajasthan borderCarnival border

I didn’t like the Rajasthan border, even though the colors were perfect. The value was too close to the other fabrics so the star points did not stand out. I finally opted for the dark of the Carnival border. It seemed to bring in some neutrals that calmed down the brightness of the other colors. I selected a neutral background that coordinates with the border.

I will keep working on it and have more photos in a couple of weeks as the quilt progresses. Stay tuned.

8 thoughts on “Design Dilemmas”

I adore that Rajasthan border, but I literally gasped out loud when I scrolled down and saw the version with the Carnival border. I particularly like shading in the Bargello-like panels and the pop of beautiful orange at base set against the dark Carnival design lifts the whole piece. It’s like a dark horizon against a brilliant sunset and captures the theme perfectly. It’s so exciting for me to see a glimpse of your design process. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

I love being able to see your creative process. You are not daunted by the prospect of sewing the quilt top multiple times either. Thank you for sharing your different color and border choices. Food for thought!

Thanks for the blog pictures. I always make up my first ” learning curve block, sometimes it’s three! I have a best friend he says there is always a learning curve. Actually it’s the best part for me. You learn so much. I would have totally picked the first border glad I have u jinny so I can see more borders on the design .

As others have mentioned I love that you are sharing your design process. It is exciting to me to know that you often realize that a fabric just does not work and then take the time to remove the stitches and redo. This will be another fabulous piece!